Monday, April 14, 2008

April Flowers, April Showers for GBBD

It's half way through the month again and time for another post for Garden Bloggers Blooms Day, a tradition started by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Yes, I know I'm one day early but I won't have time to post tomorrow, the 15th. I've started off this post with a pic of my pear tree in flower, always such a wonderful sight to see those precious blossoms.
And we have more flowering fruits such as white currants,
gooseberries,
apples,
Amelanchier, that will later produce many fruits much to the delight of the birds,
and strawberries. But these are not ordinary strawberries but ornamental ones; they produce fruits but they are hollow inside so not for eating. They do make excellent ground cover though.
The violets are still going strong in my garden as they have been all winter long.
They are grown in pots, hanging baskets and window boxes, and have done such a good job in cheering my garden up since last October.
Although the majority of daffodils is gone now, we still have some in flower such as this one,
and this one and Thalia, the gorgeous white fragrant daffodil.
One of the usual suspects to flower at this time of year is the forget-me-not. When thinking of forget-me-nots most people tend to think of blue, but they are to be had in pink and white too.
Last year I had white ones too but they didn't seed themselves all over my garden as I can't find even one single one. Snif! But the pink ones did return though and so did the traditional blue ones.
At this time of year we have quite a few blue flowers such as Periwinkle,
Rosemary,
grape hyacinths,
and lungwort.
Spring has really settled in my garden now and lots of flowers are all singing, all dancing for sheer joy. The weather has been fine these last few days. Since last Tuesday we've had lovely and sunny days, even last weekend, when they predicted cold and rainy weather. And during those sunny days many plants literally popped up all over my garden and those already there were doing their best to make it for Blooms Day.

One of my favourite colours in the garden is white, I even have a completely white garden, but not right now. In Spring even my white garden is colourful. After those dull, grey winter days it's colour that I need, and heaps of it!
Sure, there is white of course but also
pink, yellow, blue, purple, burgundy and almost black.
Perhaps you are thinking "I'm getting the whole flowers aspect of this post but what about the showers thingy?" Well, the showers we're having now, it's pouring with rain at the mo, which is good as I was scraping the barrel, the rain barrel that is. After a whole week of sunshine my rain barrels were getting quite empty but right now the water is running off the roofs of my shed and greenhouse, gurgling through the spouts and pouring joyfully into the rain barrels.
I enjoyed myself a lot earlier this morning when it was still dry outside and I was hunting for blooms to show. As per usual I found quite a few unexpected ones, such as the ones above. These trailing plants seem to have survived the cold winter and are flowering now. It looks like I can use them a second time in my hanging baskets, which is great.
I was also surprised to find that my whopping great Portuguese Laurel hedge is in flower too.
This is a passalong plant I got from friends of mine; the pic doesn't do it justice as its flowers are white, mauve, blue and kind of pinkish, very pretty and subtle.
Another surprise was this yellow wallflower that decided to grow in amongst my Rosemary.
No surprise is this Hellebore orientalis that has been flowering for quite a long time now and still going strong. It is setting seed though, so I expect it will stop flowering in a few weeks' time.
One of the tiniest blooms in my garden is produced by the cute Cymbalaria muralis. It is called wall snapdragon ( muurleeuwenbek) in Dutch. I love this plant as it flowers for such a long, long time and with such pretty mauve and soft yellow flowers too.
Centranthus ruber is about to burst into song and, with a bit of luck, will still be singing and flowering at the end of October. This plant is certainly earning its keep.
Another surprise find was Honesty in bloom. I have them in pink, purple and white.
Pulsatilla has almost finished flowering now, I wish they flowered for a longer time than just a few weeks.
The flowers on this Bergenia have survived the frost, hail, sleet and snow round Easter time as it was still in bud then. My other Bergenias that flowered much earlier this year were not so fortunate.
And lookee here, the first Columbine in flower, isn't it absolutely pretty? I love that soft yellow, don't you, but I like the stronger yellows too. For me there is no colour that says Spring to me more than yellow.
S P R I N G ! ! !

I've been picking flowers for the vase every month of the year. During the winter months the bouquets were often small but still great fun. Now the bunches of flowers I pick are getting more and more substantial. This one is adding a bit of spring to my living room right now. Lovely, don't you think?
I think I will pick a bunch for my Mum too, inbetween the showers, to take to hospital this evening. I'm sure it will cheer her up.She's much better now, going from stength to strength I'm happy to say. Thank you all for your kind words, positive thoughts, prayers and best wishes for my Mum's health.

copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You cn no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

45 comments:

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Bei so einer Blütenpracht weiß man ja gar wo man zuerst hinschauen soll! Es sieht alles so wundervoll aus und ich staune auch wie weit das schon bei dir ist. Meine Vergissmeinnicht blühen leider noch nicht, aber lange wird es wohl nicht mehr dauern. Die weiße duftende Narzisse habe ich auch, sie blüht immer etwas später als die anderen.
Eigentlich wollte ich meine Pflanzen die ich am Wochenende gekauft habe eingraben, aber der Wind bläst so heftig und ich denke dass es auch bald zu regnen beginnt! Na dann lerne ich halt englisch! *lol*
LG Lis

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Spring is certainly in full swing at Bliss.
I'm so glad your mom is gaining strength.

Anonymous said...

OH MY! What a wealth of springy blooms, Yolanda! Your bouquet is just a glimpse into all that new growth and tender shoots and first blossoms.

Anonymous said...

Wat een schitterend tuinboeket! Nu al....ga toch ook maar eens aan de knip ;-))Ook al veel vrolijke lentebloemen bij jou...nu nog het weertje...;-))
Fijn dat het beter gaat met je moeder :-)

Karin said...

It almost looks like summer at yours! Love the time now and all the beautiful flowers - still some bulbs but also perennials. :) Today I've been photographing japanese cherry trees so I've some spring feeling too even though it's cold outside.

The flowers for you mum are beautiful! Take care both of you.
Kram Karin

Annie in Austin said...

What a long bloom time the daffodils enjoy in your garden, Yolanda! Everything looks fresh and lovely - the forget-me-nots, pulsatilla and Honesty/Lunaria were such favorites in my old spring gardens.
The bouquet for your mother is beautiful.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Anonymous said...

What a lovely spring frock, YE. Your daffodils and hyacinths are several weeks, maybe a month, behind ours, which is interesting considering that our zones are not dissimilar. That's where latitude---and, no doubt, the intensity of the sun---plays a part.

Anonymous said...

Wat een hoop belofte vertoont je tuin al! Ik vind het ook de mooiste maanden zo in het voorjaar. Ik zie je pulsatilla en denk: verhip, die had ik vroeger ook! Waar is die gebleven? Toch maar weer eens kopen ;-) Veel plezier nog de komende tijd met alles wat lekker de grond uitschiet.

Anonymous said...

The 'passalong plant' is a 'Symphytum tuberosum', kind of comfrey that makes an excellent groundcover too.
And the 'ornamental strawberry', has, as you say, nothing to do with strawberries, but is not a Fragaria-species, but Duchesnea indica.

Many people call them 'wild strawberries', and are surprised when you tell them that wild strawberries taste even better than their cultivated fellows.

I do envy you for your flowering pulsatilla. Last year, mine were flowering in sheer abundance, and this year they seem to be disappeared :-(

Frances, said...

Happy days all around at Bliss, your Mum better, flowers blooming, even nice spring rains. Those flowers on the fruiting plants mean good eating down the line. How do you prepare the gooseberries? My daughter has a new one and was wondering, jam, pie or what?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Yolanda, Your garden is certainly full of blossoms this month. Just gorgeous. I am amazed that the one daffodil is so pure white and fragrant too. I must try to find some of those next year. I would love to be able to smell them.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

You can tell Hellebores have a very long bloom time when we both have them blooming at the same time. Your garden is full of loveliness.

Barbara said...

Your Spring garden is full and rich of lovely plants. What a joy for you. I bought white forget-me-nots in the hope that they were going to seed. And now you write, yours didn't ;-) ! Well let's see next year!

Aiyana said...

What a collection of flowers and blooming things. Bliss is the perfect word!
Aiyana

Anonymous said...

Really beautiful show and tell! I am anxious to discover our Amelanchier which we planted last fall. Yes, spring is on its way, though not quite as far along as it seems to be in your corner of the world. Thanks for a nice post, Andrea

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Blooms Day Bliss!

* Lis: it's good to know that you've made the best of the terrible weather you're having by learning some English here. ;-) I hope you soon will be able to put all your new bought plants in the ground. The weather has to get better some time!!!

* Nancy: yes indeed, not only lovely flowers and fruits but also slugs and snails. ;-)

* Robin: it's really spring here and my mother is much better now. I saw her yesterday evening and she said she felt so much better. She talked a lot and was very energetic. I haven't seen her like that for a long time.

* Nikkipolani: it's great, isn't it? I so enjoy my spring garden, everything looks so fresh and new and full of promise.

* Marl1: hier is het weertje niet zo slecht hoor. Vorige week vanaf dinsdag prachtig zonnig weer, ook in het weekend. Gisteren wat buien maar daar tussen veel zon. Ik zou zeggen: ga maar lekker je eerste lente boeketje scoren!

* Karin : yes, this is a good time of the year as the garden looks so fresh and new. It looks like everyday there is something new in flower. Enjoy your spring garden too Karin!

* Annie: that's right Annie. The first dafs started flowering half February and there are still daffodils in flower now. They are one of my favourite flowers so I try to have some of them in flower for as long as I possibly can.
My mother loved her spring bouquet!

* Pam: thanks! I don't think I'm that far behind with my daffodils and grape hyacinths. The grape hyacinths have been flowering from December onwards and my daffodils started flowering half February.

* Friso: de voorjaarstuin is inderdaad zo vol beloften, of die allemaal waar gemaakt zullen worden staat te bezien. Maar het is elk voorjaar weer een belevenis om al dat moois de grond uit te zien komen. Ik zie overal pulsatillas te koop dus dat moet niet zo moeilijk zijn. ;-)

* AnneTanne: thanks for identifying the passalong plant and my ornamental strawberry.

I've sown some wild strawberries this year so I'm hoping for a taste of those berries in a few months time. Oh what a shame about your pulsatillas!

* Frances: you are so right, everything is looking much better now! I usually eat the gooseberries straight from the bush. If I have the patience for it I make some lovely gooseberry pies or I use a mix of fruits like strawberries, currants and gooseberries in my crumble. Very tasty with a big scoop of icecream. ;-)

* Lisa: the Thalia daffodils are one of my favourite daffodils. They flower a bit later than the rest, have a nice scent and the flowers are very elegant in shape too. Mostly you have two flowers per stem, so double the pleasure.

* theysaywordscanbleed: please go away sad person!

* MMD: giggle. You're right, my Hellebores have been flowering for months now.

* Barbara: perhaps you will have better luck with the white forget-me-nots. ;-)

* Aiyana: it is a fitting name, isn't it?

* Andrea: living next to the North Sea has its advantages. ;-) Hope you will discover your Amelanchier soon, it is such a lovely tree or shrub.

Thank you all for visiting and commenting. It was a pleasure, as per usual, to read them all.

gintoino said...

OMG! Is it the 15th already?! I completely forgot about GBBD this month! Your garden looks beautiful Yolanda. And you have Centhratus ruber. I cant wait to see it in full bloom. Unfortunatelly I can't find if for sale here.

Entangled said...

Beautiful, as always! I'm so glad your mother is doing better.

I could see the Borage family resemblance with our Virginia bluebells in your passalong plant, but had no idea what it might be until I read AnneTanne's comment. Blogging is so educational!

Unknown said...

So glad your mum continues to improve--surely the joys of spring have something to do with this. That bouquet is just wonderful...I can only imagine having enough hellebores that I could actually PICK some of the flowers. Maybe one day...

healingmagichands said...

As always, beautiful and inspiring. I now wish I had gone around and taken portraits of all my beautiful narcissi for my post. But I just have too much to do after being gone for a month. All my beds are crying out for a good weeding.

Rose said...

Love the quote from Millay; your garden is certainly babbling with flowers. Beautiful photos.

Cheryl said...

So pleased that your mother is doind well Yolanda.
Your garden is so full of flowers, how wonderful.
Love the wall snapdragon. The house that I used to live in had a walled garden. This beautiful little plant used to tumble out of the cracks in the walls, it is quite lovely.
I like the ornamental strawberries. I am very interested in these, I have never seen them before.
You garden is a credit to you and you are certainly ahead in the spring stakes!!

Carol Michel said...

I just knew Bliss would be outstanding today, and I was not disappointed. What a lovely bouquet for your mother. Hope she continues to heal.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Rusty in Miami said...

Beautiful blooms at the Bliss, I particularly like Amelanchier tree

Unknown said...

Back again, Yolanda, because I neglected to congratulate you on your Mousie nomination. Really pleased to see it, and wish you all the best in the votings. I'd have put you in for blogger I'd love to have living next door, too!

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Oh...Yolanda it's wonderful, a post stuffed with SPRING! Beautiful

Anonymous said...

kijk nu zie ik bendes bloemen die ik ook heb ...;)) het is weer genieten in de tuin , ben al vanaf het weekend bezig , druk dus , moet een vijver bij en veel verpoot ...kortom met deze zon en nog aangename temp ....is het lekker werken ;)
heb genoten van je rondje tuin ;)
groetjes Lenie

Ewa said...

Your blooms seem to be late spring blooms :) I love the white daffodils... anyway it is very difficult to make choice what is best :)
White is also my favourite color in the garden - but in the spring all colors are needed to cheer up - as you write.
Congratulations to your nomination in Mousie voting :) Like Jodi, I voted for you as 'neighbour' :)
Wish all the best to your mom and I am sure she loved the flowers.

A wildlife gardener said...

I loved your Spring post today, Yolanda, as I have all that to look forward to still :)

Yellow - the sunshine colour - speaks to me of Spring too.

I love cymbalaria...such a dainty little plant which speads itself around and even brightens up cracks in walls :)

If you click on the following link, Yolanda, you can create a posy of flowers to take to your mum :)

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

Kylee Baumle said...

I only had time to look at a couple blogs this morning before going to work, and I'm glad yours was one of them! Pretty stuff! I love the white violas. I don't know if I've ever seen any before!

Katarina said...

So many lovely pictures! And fell in love with your daffodil Thalia - I must try to find some bulbs...
Thanks for sharing your garden!
/Katarina

Anonymous said...

I didn't know, what "bliss" means, now I do - thank you! This is a beautiful spring post, so many lovely flowers. I like it.
Elke

Greg said...

It's easy to see the reasons behind the bliss--thanks for this look at your piece of heaven on earth! I'll be back to visit often!

Unknown said...

Yolanda, it really must be spring, because you're surrounded with loveliness there at Bliss! You're so right about the cuteness of that little wallflower... but I'm still trying to get over the thought of a hollow strawberry. It seems unfair somehow. :)

@JeanAnnVK said...

I am jealous of your hellebores...mine aren't quite that established...but maybe next year!

Stardust said...

Hello,

What an amazing blog, it's like taking a walk through the garden! Thank you for sharing. I'll be visiting again. =)

Anonymous said...

Gelukkig weer bijgelezen op je blog. Door al dat grieperige gedoe bleef al dat leuks liggen.

Ik heb m'n portie tuininspiratie weer gehad.........ga lekker naar buiten :-)

Libbys Blog said...

It is so lovely to get back to blogland and catch up with all that you have been doing! My mum does not believe in computers so whilst I have been looking after her I have been cut off!!! So it is lovely to be home and doing my own thing.
As always your post are full of inspiration, I have water butts galore around my garden 4 composts, a shredder, bird feeders etc.
It is you who inspired me to plant tulips and I followed your lead with violas and pansys too. I am so thrilled with the way they turned out. Thank you.
I hope your mum is recovering well, my mum still gets very tired and has memory problems but I think thats more to dso with the anisthetic than anything else.
All the best
Libby

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Blooming Bliss!

* Alexandre: time flies while you're having fun! ;-) Centranthus is very common here and seeds itself all over the place. Such a pity you can't find it in Portugal as it is such an easy plant to grow and it flowers for a looooooong time.

* Entangled: I hadn't a clue either. It was a passalong plant from friends who didn't know which plant it was either. The things we learn while blogging, eh? ;-)

* Jodi: perhaps there will come a day that you will be able to pick some hellebore flowers too. Right now you're ready to move into fase 1: enjoying your first hellebore blooms soon! Fase 2 is enjoying more blooms next year and fase 3 is picking a few blooms. ;-)

*HMH: I can imagine your beds needing a good weeding after you're being a way for a whole month! I know how much work is waiting for me after I've been away for 1 week.

* Rose: babbling with flowers, I like that!

* Cheryl: I got the wall snapdragon from a friend of mine who got hers by picking a bit of a wall in Britain and taking it home with her to the Netherlands. :-)

* Carol: I aim to please. ;-)

* Rusty: I had an Amelanchier tree in my old garden too. It was in my front garden then, right in front of my kitchen window. I was very much aware then of all the lovely stages this tree goes through; the lovely white blossom in spring, the black fruits during summer (birds love them) and then the wonderful bright scarlet colours in autumn. It doesn't grow into a very big tree so most people can have one in their garden.

* Jodi: thanks for letting me know, I wasn't aware of it yet. And congrats on your nominations too, well done! And about the neighbouring thingy: ditto! :-)

* Tyra: stuffed with spring, I like that. How is your garden coming along?

* Lenie: mooi dat jij ook bendes bloemetjes hebt, dat maakt je tuin zoveel leuker. Ik ben ook druk bezig en profiteer van het zonnige en niet zo koude weer van de laatste tijd.Ik ben echt een mooi weer tuinier. hihi

* Ewa: spring blooms first appear in February here (snowdrops, aconites, crocuses and the first daffodils and grape hyacinths) and as it is April now, tulips, doronicum and many other plants are flowering now too. There will be more and more spring blooms until it's June and the summer flowers start. For the Netherlands the flowers you see on my blog today are mid-spring flowers.
BTW I wouldn't mind having you as my neighbour either. ;-)I'm sure we would have lots to talk about.

* WG: thanks for that link, that will be another posy to give to my Mum.

* Kylee: glad you came for a visit! The white violos are very nice, aren't they? They're one of my favourites too.

* Katarina: Thalia is a great daff. Hope you find Thalia bulbs come autumn.

* Elke: LOL, we learn something new every day, don't we?

* Greg: you're very welcome to visit as often as you like. Blogging about our gardens is about spreading the joy! Or Bliss. ;-)

* Kim: you're quite right. I remember picking a few of those hollow strawberries as they looked so tasty. What a disappointment that was.

* Jean Ann: never mind, yours will grow into big clumps too. It just takes a bit of time. My hellebore took 4 years to get this big.

* Stardust: that's what I am aiming for; to take all my visitors for a walk around my garden. I'm glad I succeeded. Feel free to come as often as you like!

* Brimstone: gelukkig dat je je weer beter voelt! Goed idee om lekker naar buiten te gaan, dat zal de laatste grieprestjes verdrijven.

* Libby: you have a lovely garden and I always enjoy visiting your blog. Are we perhaps experiencing a mutual inspiration thingy? ;-)

I'm glad you tried out the tulips and now pansies and violets too. They are great to have at this time of year as they bring so much colour and joy to our gardens and our lives.

My Mum is doing very well and yours will do too, she just needs some time to fully recover.
Best wishes to you and your Mum!

Thank you all for visiting and commenting on my blog. It's always a pleasure to read your comments.

Curmudgeon said...

Wonderful to hear that your mom is doing better! I love to see the color palettes of the different blog gardens I visit. Your portuguese laurel looks like our 'Otto"! Such wonderful fruit you have. We'd like to add some blueberries. --Curmudgeon

kate smudges said...

Your collection of spring blooms is a delight for the eyes ... would have said senses, but I can't smell them from here. It's good to know your mum is getting stronger every day.

KC MO Garden Guy said...

Wow what great pictures!! You seem to be 3 or 4 weeks ahead of us for spring. I love the white daffodils. Never seen them before. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see more pictures of your garden.

Connie said...

Your garden is looking beautiful! You are so far ahead of us....especially so with our cold late spring this year. Thanks for the garden tour. :-)

Kerri said...

I was here before Yolanda, but hurrying, so I'm back now to praise your wonderful blooms! They're all so beautiful. I'm happy to see that your Bergenia survived the frost, and the tiny wall snapdragons are adorable :)
How I'd love to have dozens of Hellebore flowers...enough to pick! I'm so glad to hear that your mum is doing much better. I'm sure she loved her bouquet.
Happy weekend!